Mumbai ship collision: Captain blames Captain

The Captain of the MSC Chitra, the ship carrying oil and pesticide that collided with another close to the Mumbai harbour on Saturday, has been granted interim bail by the Sessions court. (Mumbai oil spill in pics)

Captain Mandeleno Ranjit Martin had said in his bail plea that the collision happened because of a navigational error which was caused by the failure of radio communication. He said there was no error on his part and pointed out that he had been a part of the industry for 18 years

Martin also said in his bail application that there was no point of sending him to police custody as there was nothing to recover from him.

He added that the MV Khalijia, with which his ship had collided, was not fit to sail at sea and that it was the Captain of this ship who was responsible for the accident.

The Chitra had collided with the Khalijia on Saturday and tilted dangerously. A leak in the ship caused its cargo of oil to start pouring into the sea, causing a huge oil spill. To make matters worse, some containers detached from the ship and started floating. There were fears that these contained hazardous material, but those 31 containers were later found secure in the ship's hold.

The oil leak was finally plugged on Tuesday, but 800 tonnes of oil was spilt, double of what was thought earlier. Both the Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) have been closed. The Mumbai Port may not open till Friday. It will take days to clean up the slick and could take up to six to eight months to refloat the ship and tow it away. (Mumbai oil spill: Clean up to take 45 days)

A Singapore-based company will conduct salvage operations from Friday. A crane mounted on a ship has been placed next to the Chitra and preliminary clearing operations have begun.

First, the ships containers will be removed and oil will be pumped out and only then will the ship be towed to the shore.

Images shot by NDTV show that the oil slick is affecting marine life and the environment.

NDTV travelled to Uran in Raigad district to find out the impact of the spill, and the situation is scary. A snake which came in from the sea was covered in oil, and the mangroves here are bearing the brunt of the accident.

Source http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/mumbai-ship-collision-captain-blames-captain-43592

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Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/mumbai-ship-collision-captain-blames-captain-43592?cp

Rescue efforts continue in Leh, 500 still missing

After a night's halt, thousands of rescue workers fanned out across Jammu and Kashmir's Leh town on Monday, three days after a cloudburst caused flash floods, killing 132 people and causing widespread destruction. "Out of 132 bodies recovered so far, 128 have been identified,"

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Farooq Ahmad told IANS. "No foreigner is among the 128 dead identified. While one Spanish national is still missing, another is being treated for injuries in a Leh hospital," he said.

Over 500 people, including the Spanish tourist and 20 army soldiers, are still missing after the tragedy.

Around 1,200 foreign tourists, who had been stranded in Leh because of the cloudburst, have been evacuated by special flights of Air India and other airliners, Ahmad added.

"Helicopters have been pressed into service today (Monday) to evacuate some foreign tourists who are stranded in Zanskar Valley of Ladakh region," the officer said.

Over 400 injured people are being treated in makeshift hospitals established in Leh with the help of the army and the local administration.

Four Air India flights reached the town on Sunday to evacuate stranded passengers, most of them foreigners, while the Indian Air Force sent more planes with relief supplies.

Special Air India flights are scheduled to Leh to evacuate stranded passengers there on Monday as well.

At least 20 soldiers deployed near the base camp of Siachen glacier - the highest battleground of the world at the height of 18,000 feet above sea level - are still missing and are feared dead, army sources said in winter capital Jammu.

The police have set up tented accommodation for 2,000 victims in Choglamsar village and Leh town where free meals are being served.

Over 6,000 army soldiers and troopers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are involved in the massive relief and rescue operation and are assisting the local administration.

Leh is 434 km from Srinagar and 474 km from Manali in Himachal Pradesh, to which it is connected by an alternative highway.

The cloudburst occurred at Choglamsar village, which is situated above Leh town, causing flash floods and mudslides that washed away government offices, paramilitary camps and residential homes.

Among the worst hit are the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), many local hotels and shops.

The headquarters of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a government polytechnic, an ITBP camp, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp, some government offices and the main transmitter of All India Radio Leh have been extensively damaged.

Situated at 3,524 m above sea level, Leh is spread over 45,110 sq km comprising the main town and 12 adjacent villages.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Rescue-efforts-continue-in-Leh-500-still-missing/Article1-584207.aspx

Bihar train robbery: 21 passengers injured, Rs. 2.5 lakh looted

A large group of armed robbers struck the Sealdah—New Delhi Lal Quila Express today, fired at GRP personnel, assaulted passengers and looted them near Bhalui halt in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district, leaving 21 people, including a jawan, injured.

Enraged over the incident, passengers, mostly kanwarias (devotees of Lord Shiva), shouted slogans and ransacked the office of the station master in Kiul.

Around 35 robbers boarded the train at Jamui station and walked into AC and sleeper coaches of the train and started looting cash and valuables, including jewellery and mobile phones worth Rs 2.50 lakh, from the passengers, official sources said quoting the FIR registered by six passengers.

As the unarmed GRP personnel resisted them, they opened fire critically wounding one of them. The jawan has been hospitalised at a nearby hospital, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Railway) R K Sharma said.

Passengers travelling on the reserved berths, besides the kanwariyas were assaulted by the robbers with butts of pistols and rifles when they refused to part with their belongings.

While five passengers, including three women, suffered serious injuries, 15 kanwariyas and others sustained minor injuries, sources said.

A team of doctors was called by the Railways to provide first—aid to the passengers and the train resumed the onward journey to New Delhi more than two hours behind schedule, they said.

About four to five unarmed GRP personnel were present in the train when the incident took place at around 4.45 AM, the sources said, adding “no weapons are given to the GRP personnel on the route“.

According to the sources, four robbers had earlier boarded the train at Jamui railway station, but passengers and the jawans overpowered them and caught two of them. The other two who managed to escape, alerted their accomplices and the robbery took place at the next halt.

Police sources said that of the 275 trains that need security in Bihar, only 15 per cent are patrolled by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the rest by the Bihar Police.

Senior police officials have reached the spot and raids are on to track down the robbers.

Source http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article555259.ece

College student raped by businessman in Delhi

A teenaged college student was abducted and raped in a car in west Delhi allegedly by a businessman who was arrested, the police said today.

Mukesh Singhal, who runs a paper producing factory, allegedly raped the 17-year-old first year student of a Delhi University college last evening, a senior police officer said.

Singhal stopped his car and asked her an address. When she responded, he allegedly pulled her inside the car and took her to an isolated place where he raped her, the officer said.

The businessman, who resides in Ashok Vihar in north Delhi, later dumped her in front of her college.

The victim then rushed to a police station and filed a complaint. Police personnel took her to a hospital for medical examination which confirmed sexual assault.

Following the medical report, Singhal was arrested and a case of abduction and rape was registered against him.

Source http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_college-student-raped-by-businessman-in-delhi_1419195

India railways suspends Kashmir service amid unrest

The Valley was under the grip of tension for the fifth day.

Indian railways said Wednesday that unrest in the Kashmir Valley had forced it to suspend services that were hailed at their launch two years ago as a symbol of peace and prosperity in the region.

Additional Divisional Railways Manager R.S. Ghera said the decision had been taken after a weekend attack on Sopore railway station and would only be restored once the safety of railway staff and property could be ensured.

"The service is totally disrupted since Sopore station was set on fire and it is too early to say when it could be restored because at present we cannot even assess the damage due to the security situation," Ghera said.

He said a majority of the 1,500 railways staff in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley -- where more than 40 people have been killed since June in daily clashes between anti-India protesters and police -- were reluctant to report for duty.

"We cannot force them to return to work unless the state government gives an assurance on their safety," Ghera told AFP by telephone from Indian Railways regional headquarters in Ferozepur town in Punjab state.

Around 100 railways staff and their families have already left the region which has been under nearly constant curfew for the last two months.

The 120-kilometre (75-mile), 15-station train service links Baramulla town in the north of Indian Kashmir with Qazigund in the south.

It was personally flagged off by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in October 2008, who said it sent a message that Kashmir's future "should be socially, economically and politically bright."

The 20-billion-rupee (470-million-dollar) project was started in 2000 and involved thousands of engineers and labourers who had to contend with tough Himalayan weather and rugged terrain.

The death in early June of a teenage student -- killed by a police tear-gas shell -- sparked a series of violent protests in Indian Kashmir in which 44 people have been killed, 27 of them since Friday.

"First they damaged tracks, then a bridge and signalling system at Sopore and then a 10,000-strong mob told our employees not to report to work," Ghera said.

Source http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gmXojp2AYgiSq3kkx2ddw4BG__SQ

Another youth killed in Kashmir, clashes continue

A 23-year-old man was killed in Srinagar on Tuesday as crowds defying curfew orders clashed with security forces, taking the toll to 23 in the last five days of unrelenting violence in the Kashmir Valley. Mehraj-ud-Din was killed in Barthana locality of Srinagar city, six kilometres from the city centre Lal Chowk. "The incident occurred when a violent curfew defying mob attacked the security forces," a senior police officer said here.

In another incident, mobs attacked security forces in Sheikhpora area of central Kashmir Badgam district, 14 km from here.

"Despite repeated announcements and warnings that nobody should take to the streets since curfew continued in the area, unruly mobs came out in Sheikhpora area hurling rocks and stones at the security forces."

"In the resultant firing, two protesters were injured and immediately moved to the hospital where doctors said they were out of danger. They suffered leg injuries," the police officer said.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani called for a peaceful rally from Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura (SKIMS), where he is admitted. The rally will proceed to the martyrs' graveyard in Old City.

Geelani Monday said he would lead the rally himself and assured authorities that the rally would be peaceful.

However, authorities continued with curfew restrictions in the Srinagar city and all other major towns of the valley.

Roads were completely deserted as shops, educational institutions, banks, post offices and other businesses remained closed throughout Srinagar city. The only visible traffic movement was that of the security force vehicles.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who returned after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in Delhi, chaired a meeting in Srinagar late Monday.

The meeting was attended by senior officers of the army, state police, central and state intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces.

An official said the security forces have been instructed to firmly tackle violence in the Kashmir Valley, but ensure that firearms are not used unless all other preventive measures are exhausted.

The valley has been on the boil due to violent protests against civilians being killed in firing by security forces since June 11. Thirty-seven civilians have been killed in the last six weeks, with 23 of them dying since Friday.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/srinagar/Another-youth-killed-in-Kashmir-clashes-continue/Article1-581552.aspx

Compensation announced for Uttarakhand accident victims

Compensation of Rs.200,000 will be given to the kin of each of the 23 Hindu pilgrims who died in a road accident in Uttarakhand, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced on monday. He also expressed grief over the death of the 'Kanwarias' (Shiv devotees), residents of Baghanki and Khedki villages in Haryana's Gurgaon district.

The pilgrims were killed on Sunday when the truck ferrying them fell into a 150 metre deep gorge at Dabrani in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district.

"We are in touch with the administration of Uttarkashi to bring home the bodies of the deceased," a state government spokesperson said.

The truck was on its way to Gangotri. The accident took place on the Rishikesh Gangotri national highway, about 70km from Dehradun.

"We have made all arrangements to transport the bodies to their respective houses," he added.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Compensation-announced-for-Uttarakhand-accident-victims/Article1-581189.aspx